A few days
ago I read a rather disturbing article about AC/DC singer Brian Johnson facing
the possibility of the sack after announcing that his hearing may well be on
the way out
There are a
few dark forces at work here
Firstly, it’s
a pretty well-known fact that a lot of singers and musicians in general suffer
from some sort of deafness towards the end of their careers. Obviously this is
due to simple wear and tear as a result of standing in front of a very noisy
drummer or guitarist for the best part of a few decades (I should know!).
Pete
Townsend once famously stood in front of Keith Moon’s exploding drum kit on the
Smothers Brothers show in 1965 resulting in his hearing being permanently
damaged in one of his ears (this, of course, could have been avoided had Moon
not got the man who was in charge of the pyrotechnics drunk the night before,
but Moon was Moon – deranged)
Secondly I
fail to see how the powers that be in AC/DC can come to this decision (if true,
of course as there has been no official statement made yet by the band – which
is also quite strange) to relieve Johnson of his duties
In case you
didn’t know, Johnson joined the band after the death of the much loved Bon
Scott in 1980 and recorded the critically acclaimed ‘Back in Black’ as their
comeback album and tribute to Scott. You could say he saved their bacon as the
rest of the band considered quitting!
After Back
in Black, Johnson has continued to show true professionalism and loyalty over
four decades to a band that he basically pulled out of the shit resulting in
them being one of the biggest bands the world has ever seen!
You get the
feeling they owe him BIG TIME!!
Thirdly, I
know this sounds simplistic, but why can’t Johnson employ the services of a
hearing aid? Pete Townsend, Ronnie Wood, Richie Blackmore and a whole host of
other wrinkly rock stars have used one for years! Maybe vanity is an issue? If
so, since when have AC/DC give a fuck about how they look??? (Maybe they’re
thinking of doing a duet with Rhianna!!)
Fourthly,
with AC/DC being a band that easy fall into the category of ‘Band of the
People’, why are they acting as some sort of faceless corporation who throw
away loyalty and sentiment and replace it with some sort of ridiculous X Factor
style selection process by plucking some no mark from obscurity to replace
Johnson! That’s NOT the way AC/DC do things and, honestly, if true, I will have
lost all respect I once had for them!!
What I
usually do here now is play devil’s advocate, but I’m not going to!
AC/DC’s
actions here are nothing short of greed and capitalism! You get the feeling
they are trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their fans by placing some
puppet into Johnson’s shoes when they should just do the honourable thing and
call it a day! Iron Maiden did a similar thing years ago when Bruce Dickenson
left – that blew up in their faces as well!!
Granted,
AC/DC have obligations to make and fans to please, but, personally, I’d rather
just have my money back than watch them take to the stage with some phoney who
will probably do his own piss poor impression of one of the greatest rock
singers the world has ever witnessed!!
Also, if
once again this is true, why can’t Angus and the boys just simply say in true rock
n roll fashion “fuck it, We’re not carrying on or playing” (like they did when
Bon Scott died) as they’ve made enough money, made enough great records and
finish on top with the adulation and love of their fans safe in their hearts!
Finally – I
think they owe an explanation or some sort of statement to the people who have
followed them all over the world for nearly five decades and made them who they
are – the fans!!
Then again,
seems we really are walking dollar signs and the people who made them great are
merely expendable commodities who can be replaced at the drop of a hat!!
Mol
